Council approves $5.5 million more for Central Library

The updated price tag for the new Central Library is now $126.6 million after City Council voted 8-2 Thursday to approve an additional $5.5 million recommended by staff. The measure got pushback from Council Member Don Zimmerman, who argued that the city had deceived voters who approved a $90 million bond to build the new library in 2006. The assumption, he said, was that the bond funds would pay for the entire project. Mayor Steve Adler responded that voters had approved the bond funding and then, through their elected representatives, approved additional funding for the library when Council set a $120 million budget for it in 2010. Zimmerman dismissed that reasoning, saying that a referendum is not the same as “getting six Council members” to approve more spending. The measure passed easily, with only Zimmerman and Council Member Ellen Troxclair opposed.